US officials reportedly negotiate stake in Venezuelan oil fields, opposition protests
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U.S. officials are said to be in advanced talks with Venezuela's interim government to acquire a long-term share in several oil fields, prompting sharp criticism from Venezuelan opposition leaders who call the move unconstitutional.
U.S. officials are reported to be negotiating a direct stake in more than a dozen Venezuelan oil and gas fields, covering an estimated 90 billion barrels, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. The fields, located in the Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo regions, are said to be the subject of a potential 100-year lease arrangement.
The negotiations have drawn strong condemnation from Venezuela's opposition, which describes the proposal as a “land grab” that violates the country's constitution. > "It’s a land grab – a massive land grab," said an unnamed opposition figure, adding that the United States is acting in a “rapacious” manner.
Critics also argue that the interim government, led by former vice-president Delcy Rodríguez, lacks legitimacy to sign such an agreement. > Ricardo Hausmann, an exiled former minister, wrote on X that “an illegitimate interim government with an illegitimate hydrocarbons law has no legitimacy to strike this unconstitutional deal.”
Economist Francisco Rodríguez warned the national assembly to reject what he termed a “predatory deal,” saying that handing over oil assets to the United States would contravene the constitution and harm Venezuelan citizens. Energy analyst Gregory Brew noted that similar historic concessions have led to foreign control of national resources, describing the proposed arrangement as “colonial.”
The reports come amid broader U.S. efforts to increase influence in Latin America, a strategy the Trump administration frames as countering China and Russia. No timeline has been set for a new presidential election in Venezuela, and opposition leader María Corina Machado remains in exile.